


Coffee, Crepes, and Calm

by Zodiac



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Amaurot (Final Fantasy XIV), Domestic, Domestic Fluff, It's mostly Hyth being painfully domestic, Male Azem, Multi, Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal Spoilers, Polyamory, Rated T because Hades says bad words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26357428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zodiac/pseuds/Zodiac
Summary: Being the early bird between the three of them, Hythlodaeus had certain self-assigned tasks to tend to before Hades and Azem rose... And he wouldn't have it any other way.
Relationships: Azem/Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	Coffee, Crepes, and Calm

Hythlodaeus was always the first among them to awaken.

At the stroke of five, before the first rays of the morning sun began to bounce off the twisting, beautiful spires of Amaurot but shortly after the first birds roused and chirped and flitted about as they started their day, Hythlodaeus stirred in his shared bed. Beside him were his two lovers, Emet-Selch and Azem to most, but when titles and formality were unnecessary, he referred to them by their true names, Hades and Zelos respectively. Mouths agape, they were both snoring, though Hades sounded as though he was attempting to fell an entire forest while Zelos was going for the much more moderate goal of creating a small clearing. Nestled close together, arms twining around each other’s bare chests, one unaware of how they spent their waking hours would never have guessed they were as antagonistic as they were to one another, but such was the miracle of drowsiness. Close to bedtime, Zelos’ seemingly boundless energy finally began to wind down and Hades’ prickly guard lowered, leaving them both in a prime state to offer each other soft words and gentle physical affection instead of their usual snark and sass.

And Hythlodaeus too, of course, but seeing the Architect and the Traveler getting along was a much more rare occurrence than one or both of them being loving towards him. While he certainly did enjoy receiving and returning any affection, it was just as nice to see the two of them mellow and snuggly for once… and made it that much easier for him to slip out of bed without awakening them.

Gingerly sliding his way out from under silken sheets and a thick, cozy blanket, he stood as delicately as he could, still wary of waking them up despite how they slept like the dead. As he did so, a fuzzy patch of darkness at the foot of the bed lethargically roused at the movement, Cerberus stretching for a moment before getting off the bed in a way that was considered more melting than hopping. The three-headed pup definitely didn’t inherit his own penchant for awakening early, as evidenced by how he yawned with all three of his heads and let out little whines as his mouths flopped closed.

Leaning down for just long enough to give each head a little pet, he shushed him and murmured, “I know it is early, but that is precisely the best time to make breakfast!”

Thankfully, while his partners preferred to sleep shirtless or entirely nude, his constant need for warmth drew him to wearing more clothing. That night, it had been a fluffy white robe and a soft pair of pajama pants, so he had no need to dress himself any further quite yet, instead choosing to head straight to their kitchen, the pup padding along after him.

Once he entered it, Cerberus took his usual spot by the stove, plopping down on the tile with all four legs splayed out before letting out another yawn. He may have been sleepy, but he never passed up an opportunity to try to mooch food off of Hythlodaeus.

Crossing the room, Hythlodaeus began rooting around in the cabinets and what served as their refrigerator (kept chilled with the aether of ice crystals) for what he required. While Hades scoffed at him for cooking through manual means rather than simply creating a finished dish with his magic, he enjoyed the process of cooking, the oddly soothing sensation of performing menial tasks, the satisfying feeling of working away at something until a delightfully delicious end product was reached… and Hades was the one who could only ever create a mug of lukewarm water and chunky grounds as his morning "coffee" before they gotten together, so he really had no room to talk.

And speaking of that most blessed of elixirs, he had best get that started first. Out of one of the cabinets, he plucked a bag of coffee beans he had ground up earlier in the week and then turned his attention to the espresso machine. Powered by lightning and fire crystals, he had come up with the concept in hopes of Hades being able to make at least a passable cup of coffee without him, but, well… the poor old man was utterly  _ hopeless _ before his first (or sometimes second or third) cup and somehow managed to only get the thing to dispense ground-ridden sludge whenever he made an attempt at it.

Ah well, he wasn’t entirely certain he trusted Hades with it had he been successful with it, not in a groggy, uncaffeinated state, anyway.

After taking the filter out of the machine, he scooped a fair amount of grounds into it before tamping it down, ensuring an even layer covered it. With that done, he returned the filter to the device and turned it on, waiting for it to come up to the proper pressure.

While that was busy, he started work on the actual food portion of breakfast, something that he always prepared for the three of them as much as Hades insisted all he needed in the morning was a scalding cup of coffee. Zelos, at the very least, was all-too happy to scarf down whatever he placed in front of him.

After removing a pan as quietly as he could from the precariously-balanced stack of them in a lower cabinet and murmuring a relieved prayer to the stars on managing to not send a pot toppling over in the process, he set it atop the stove before a flick of his aether resonated with the fire crystals set into it, sparking a flame into existence just beneath it. With the pan heating up, milk, flour, sugar, eggs, and just a touch of vanilla and salt were all added into a large mixing bowl. With a spoon, the contents were vigorously combined, but only for just long enough that there were no lumps in the thin batter; it wouldn’t do to end up overmixing it.

After setting the bowl to a side, he raised his hand above the pain, making certain that he could feel the heat radiating from it. Satisfied, he cut a good pat of butter and plopped it on the pan, nudging it about until both every bit of its surface was covered and the bit of butter had sizzled away into nothingness. Taking a scoop of the batter, he poured it into the pan, quickly swirling it about so a thin layer of it coated the pan before leaving it be. Once the middle was set, he  _ very _ carefully flipped it over with a spatula so the other side could cook. After just a moment, he slid it off the pan and onto an awaiting plate to one side and surveyed his work.

Darkened spots speckled the otherwise perfectly-cooked batter near the middle and the edges were ragged and uneven. To anyone else, especially his two partners still snoozing away, it would likely be a perfectly serviceable crepe, but to Hythlodaeus, it was a flaw that his perfectionism and pride towards cooking wouldn’t allow anyone else to gaze upon. Once it had cooled somewhat, he tore it in half and began idly chewing on one of the pieces. As for the other… well, Cerberus had been waiting so very patiently, after all. With a flick of his wrist, he “accidentally” dropped it on the floor, where it was curiously, yet sleepily sniffed at for only a moment before quickly being devoured by all three heads of the pup.

That mistake dealt with, he scooped another spoonful of batter onto the pan and tried again, this time making sure to be more fluid with his movements and to take it off the heat sooner. His result was a perfectly round, perfectly-cooked crepe that exceeded even his high standards. Repeating the motions again and again rewarded him with a towering stack of the things. Once he ran out of batter, he separated the stack and carefully put all but three of them on a sheet pan which was then placed in the oven. A signal from his aether and the oven turned to just high enough of a temperature to keep them warm until he was ready to go awaken his partners.

Turning his attention back to the remaining ones, he spread strawberry jam along their surfaces before folding them up into cone-like shapes. For the topping of each cone, there was a decadent dollop of whipped cream and each crepe was zig-zagged with a hearty drizzle of syrup. Perhaps not the healthiest of breakfast options, but he was the cook, therefore he got to choose what he made for himself.

Figuring the coffee would be done after all that, he set a mug under the spout of the coffee machine and pushed the button on it. A rich, dark shot of espresso was slowly pressed into his cup, but there was no way he would be drinking that as-is —he wasn’t Hades, after all. Instead, he promptly dumped in enough sugar to saturate the drink before filling it to the brim with milk straight from the fridge to cool it down enough to drink immediately.

His own breakfast done, he brought it over to the kitchen table, Cerberus dutifully plodding along behind him. There, he ate, savoring the fleeting quiet permeating their apartment. The comforting veil of silence was always a treasured thing whenever Zelos was home from his wanderings, the otherwise mellow household becoming so much more lively in his presence. The Traveler was simply so full of boundless energy that it seemed to spring from him like water from a well, spreading to everyone else living here. Cerberus became more rambunctious and playful, he himself grew much more susceptible to whatever moronic ideas they might come up with, and, perhaps most noticeably, Hades grew more snarky and harmless bickering between him and Zelos routinely drifted his way if he happened to be busy in another room. His soft chuckles echoed in his mug as he fondly remembered a recent argument concerning the legitimacy of a flavor just being referred to as “blue” with no other indication of what it might taste like with Zelos being all for it while Hades was staunchly against such a thing.

The Traveler brought with him an extra element of unpredictability, of not knowing what all of them might be roped into before the day was said and done, but… Hythlodaeus wouldn’t have it any other way.

He was a part of their chaotic, dysfunctional family and he wouldn’t change that for the world.

Letting out a content sigh, he pushed his chair away from the table once he was finished with his meal. Gathering up his plate and mug, he set them in the sink to soak before setting the table for his lovers. He knew that his two lovable morons would only eat junk food if they could, so after dividing the remaining crepes between two plates, he gave each only a cursory dollop of whipped cream before setting cut strawberries and blueberries atop the pillowy mounds. For Hades, he prepared a shot of espresso diluted with just enough water to reach halfway up the mug; he somehow managed to enjoy his coffee black as a cauldron and hot as the fires of the Underworld itself and still did even after decades of Hythlodaeus trying to convince him to spruce it up a bit. For Zelos, well… he didn’t know what caffeine would do to the already bubbly Traveler and, quite frankly, had no desire to find out, so he received a glass of milk.

With everything properly plated and set on the table, about the only thing to do now was go through the arduous task of awakening his two lovers.

Heading back to the bedroom, a now alert Cerberus trotting along after him, he carefully opened the door, spending a moment to just watch the two of them. They were in much the same positions as he had left them in, nestled in against one another. They may have seemed positively revolting to some, almost entirely naked, saliva pooling and trailing down from their open maws, snoring loud enough to ripple the waters of the Lifestream, but those were all traits that had endeared themselves to Hythlodaeus… or, were tolerable, at the very least. The rising sun only just pierced through the thick curtain shrouding the window, weak beams filtering through to dance across the two of them.

A calm morning moment that never failed to fill him with peace.

And then, with a loud, perky, "Good morning!~" he crossed the room to throw open the curtains and pandemonium promptly broke loose.

There was a reluctant, disoriented groan from Zelos, certainly, but that was nothing compared to the absolutely  _ unholy _ hissing that Hades produced, the Lord of the Underworld letting his displeasure be known.

"Yes, yes," he chided patiently, having heard that horrid noise far too many times now to be bothered by it, "you are terrible and frightening and all should bow down before you, I know. But it is morning and, therefore, it is time to rise and greet the day!"

"I am bad at greetings, especially when they involve the sun, Hyth…" Hades moaned, burying his face in Zelos' hair in an attempt to shield his eyes from the sunlight.

Zelos, meanwhile, was attempting to do the same with Hades' chest, face pressed into the thick white curls present there. "I like greetin' people, but not the  _ day _ ."

Shaking his head and sighing in mock exasperation, he moved over to the bed, but remained standing, knowing full-well that Hades could deliver a nasty kick if he put his mind to it. "Come now, Zelos, should the Sun not rise and shine as early as possible? And, Hades, what would the rest of the Convocation think if you just lazed around in bed all day?"

"The Sun needs five more minutes!"

"The rest of the Convocation can go fuck themselves!"

A pause.

"...W-wait!" Shooting up in bed, the Traveler glared at his companion, "I'm right here, old man! You got something you wanna say to me?!"

"Yeah, go fuck yourself!"

Between the two of them very nearly coming to blows then and there, Hythlodaeus serving as mediator while simultaneously trying not to laugh about the whole situation, and Cerberus figuring it was playtime and jumping up on the bed before licking all three of them, they managed to get to some semblance of an awakened state. Even more miraculously, Hythlodaeus managed to herd them into the kitchen without a fight breaking out. Sure, they were still without clothes, but he had learned to take the small victories.

Zelos plopped down in a chair and immediately went to work on reducing his beautifully-made crepes to a scene of carnage while Hades nursed his cup of almost pure coffee, still not quite awake enough to eat yet. The pup had followed them, milling about under the table in hopes of more scraps. After making sure they were settled in, Hythlodaeus made to move away, to clean the dishes from earlier, but a lethargic hand on his arm stopped him. Turning towards the groggy Architect, he tilted his head to one side, figuring that he would only perform the bare minimum of social interactions until his coffee worked its magic.

"Yes?"

To his surprise, Hades sat up straight in his seat, prying a few obligatory pops of protest from his joints in the process, and pressed his lips to Hythlodaeus', rolling his tongue over them in a slow, lazy kiss. It lasted but a moment before he pulled away, smiling up at him. "Mornings are as good as they shall ever be with you and Zelos here."

Though flushed from the unexpected kiss, he can't help but grimace as his tongue reflexively runs over his own lips, catching the foul hints of morning breath mixed with coffee left upon them. "Ah… while I appreciate the gesture, you truly do need to brush your teeth, lover."

He chuckled, a warm, chocolate-rich sound ever-so slightly ragged with the remaining traces of grogginess. "I know." And, before Hythlodaeus could move, he leaned back up, pressing another kiss to his lips before innocently returning to his coffee.

"I know."

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this and wanted to screech at me in a manner similar to socializing, then you can find my Twitter right [here](https://twitter.com/HippestGlitch).


End file.
